With the exception of a few notable examples (see: The Godfather Part II, The Empire Strikes Back, The Road Warrior, The Dark Knight, and The Wrath of Khan), sequels rarely live up to—let alone surpass—the quality of the film that preceded them. Which is why, according to Judd Apatow, we’ll likely never see a Superbad II.
As the New York Post reports, Apatow—who produced the original Superbad, which turned actors like Jonah Hill and Emma Stone into household names—was totally down to make a sequel, but the film’s cast worried that a second movie might tarnish the reputation of the original 2007 coming-of-age comedy. Apatow was recently a guest on the “Inside of You With Michael Rosenbaum” podcast, where he shared some of the actors’ key, and understandable, concerns about messing with perfection when he brought up the idea of a second film.
“Everyone was like, ‘Nah, we don’t want to screw up Superbad by accidentally making a crappy second one. And I would always say the same thing: ‘Well, that’s like saying don’t make the second episode of the The Sopranos. Like, so why do you think we would screw up the second one?”
In 2020, Seth Rogen—who co-wrote the movie with Evan Goldberg—told LADbible that of all the movies he has been a part of, “Superbad is the one I’d 100 percent probably never touch.” As Rogen explained:
Honestly, I don’t think it requires improvement or anything to be built upon it. I’m unbelievably proud of it, it really holds up—people still watch it, high school kids come up to me telling me that they watched it for the first time and how they loved it. It’s worked its way into being viewed as one of the better high school movies that’s out there.
In 2021, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, a.k.a. McLovin, said, “If there was a way to do it, [a female version] would be the way, for sure.” Though Booksmart already kind of went there.
Apatow’s idea was that Hill’s Seth would flunk out of college and randomly show up to visit Michael Cera’s Evan. For his part, according to Apatow, Hill said he’d be game to reunite the BFFs—but only when they’re 70 or 80 years old. “Our spouses die, and we’re single again,” Hill told W Magazine of his idea earlier this year. “That’s what I want Superbad 2 to be, and that’s the only way I would ever make it.” Given that both Hill and Cera are in their 30s, that movie could take a while.
Superbad II: Coming to a theater near you in 2059.
(Via New York Post)